There's a bigness to "Michael Collins" that suggests writer-director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game," "Interview With the Vampire") wants to do something deep and epical, something socially significant, perhaps on a par with Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
But there's also a sense that he settled instead for an action picture, albeit on a bigger scale than most. The film is crammed with hurried details - but at the expense of exploring serious ideas or better defining the characters.
At its best, "Michael Collins" nobly attempts to be a history of the Irish Republican Army, and specifically of the title character, who was instrumental in its formation.
Liam Neeson (who, of course, was also "Schindler") is well-cast as Collins, a rowdy, rough-and-tumble, prideful Irishman, at the center of his country's fight to free itself from English rule - and far from timid about using any means necessary to drive his point home.
The film begins in Dublin, circa 1916, as he and his cohorts are being arrested, along with his best friend Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn) and their leader, the enigmatic Eamon De Valera (Alan Rick-man, in an exquisite, if underwritten turn).
De Valera is held in prison, but Collins and Boland are freed and begin to formulate their own plans. Collins feels strongly that conventional fighting is useless, and - dubbing himself the "minister of mayhem" - begins forming small bands of men to carry out surprise attacks on the unsuspecting British.
Initially rag-tag in its approach, Collins' growing army gets a tremendous boost when he is befriended by Ned Broy (Stephen Rea), who becomes his inside man at Dublin's British office. Broy provides access to the names of British officials, and Collins targets them for assassination.
Meanwhile, Collins and Boland begin competing for the hand of lovely Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts), with Boland winning her over through the film's first half. When De Valera is released and takes Boland with him to America in a bid for political endorsement, Collins seizes the opportunity to make Kitty his own. (This subplot was perhaps deemed necessary to keep from scaring off the potential female audience, but it feels contrived and Hollywoodish, even if it is historically sound).
There is action galore here as bloody battles frequently erupt, laced with a fair amount of disturbing violence, especially when the British are shown brutalizing women and children. And Jordan's pacing is rapid to a fault.
But he's not above stealing from other famous films, as illustrated by a montage toward the end that has Collins being set up for an ambush, which Jordan intercuts with Kitty picking out her wedding garb. (Think "The Godfather.")
Jordan aims high but too often falls short, especially when things (infrequently) slow down for exposition. And while some characters come off quite well, far too many remain awfully underdeveloped.
With a movie like this, it's easy to complain about problems you half-expect, such as Julia Roberts' accent, which comes and goes, or the superficial way British soldiers are portrayed - foolish at best, Nazi-ish at worst. (Although one could argue that this is cinematic payback for all the anti-Irish stereotypes in such films as "Patriot Games.")
Whatever Jordan's intentions on other fronts, he has turned out a first-rate action picture, mounted with some impressive, if not stirring set-pieces, including quite a few on a scale far beyond what we expect in movies these days.
But all the skimping here may leave viewers who are unfamiliar with the whys and wherefores of Irish politics wondering what all the fuss is about. Or worse, that this really is a one-sided conflict. Like most things, there's a lot of gray in there, despite what is loaded here as a black-and-white issue.
"Michael Collins" is rated R for considerable violence and gore, as well as considerable profanity.